Washington police are investigating the death of a Washington & Jefferson College student early today. Washington police Chief Robert Lemons said the man, whose identity has not been released, was found unresponsive off campus and later died at Washington Hospital. Lemons said police are treating the death as suspicious. He said police would not have more information until an autopsy is performed.

Mr. Colby wrote:I'm an alum. Not cool. I always felt uncomfortable walking around late at night alone

Which year?

2010.

Bunch of people on facebook and twitter from there are blaming the school... look I dislike the way stuff is run there as much as the next guy and I can't stand the president but how can the school be accountable for an off-campus murder?

All they can do is have security patrol more since Wednesday night is bar night, but that still doesn't guarantee something like that wouldn't happen

Mr. Colby wrote:I'm an alum. Not cool. I always felt uncomfortable walking around late at night alone

Which year?

2010.

Bunch of people on facebook and twitter from there are blaming the school... look I dislike the way stuff is run there as much as the next guy and I can't stand the president but how can the school be accountable for an off-campus murder?

All they can do is have security patrol more since Wednesday night is bar night, but that still doesn't guarantee something like that wouldn't happen

Fraternity?

And yeah, I agree. W&J Security can't create a secure walkway from Chestnut to V.I.P. The best thing to do is walk with others in that situation.

mac5155 wrote:Is Washington seriously that dangerous of an area? I mean.. when I was in HS we played Wash high in FB and sometimes things got out of hand. But it's Washington not Detroit.

The fraternity parking lots are adjacent to Section 8 housing. And the residents of those housing projects go share the same route to downtown and the bars. Lots of petty car vandalism and stuff too. Section 8 residents and liberal arts college students are not a great mix.

I'm an alum as well (1998). The intersection of College and Maiden Streets is right near the corner of campus that houses Davis Hall and Dieter-Porter Hall. I was a psychology major at W&J and almost all of my psych classes were in Dieter-Porter. It's a pretty well-lit area, but it's also one of the corners of campus far removed from any security. That corner of campus kind of sits up a little bit from the street, so I guess there are areas there that are kind of "hidden" from regular traffic. At night, I can't say it's a very highly-patrolled area, but there's usually a fair amount of automobile traffic.

That's just sad. The campus security when I was there wasn't worth a crap. They usually had a staff of maybe 3-4 guys that patrolled on weeknights, and then increased it to maybe 6-7 on weekends, especially during the fall weekends when most of the parties happen. Then again, I was also there before much of the school expanded so I'm not sure if they've increased the security.

Even still, I don't know that I'd blame the school/lack of security for this.

There were issues on weekends from time to time with "townies". I wouldn't say trouble was frequent but whenever there were incidents, the Washington police were always called and they handled it. The worst thing that ever happened when I was there was an on-campus stabbing - one of the football players was stabbed in the back with a small knife trying to break up a fight that a townie started with another kid.

When I was there, for the most part, I tried to refrain from walking anywhere off campus at night by myself. It's not a horrible area overall but as TheHammer24 said, there were certain areas (ironically, mostly at the opposite end of campus from where this happened) that you didn't really want to be out by yourself after dark.

Washington & Jefferson College, you were made aware of these problems over two years ago. You brought in the Washington Police Department to assure students that there was absolutely nothing they could do. You have made no effective efforts to increase safety at the campus. You will never get a dime from me. Hopefully, it only takes the murder of one student for you to pull your head out of your ass.

Suggested Reforms:Reopen the student bar on campus so students don't have to go to trashy townie bars like V.I.P. to get a drink.

Employ actual security guards that are able to protect students.

Monitor a couple of blocks beyond campus -- if the Washington Police aren't going to, you owe it to your students to do so.

Provide transportation to and from Main Street on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday nights. Campus patrol drives all over the place and does nothing already, so you might as well make them useful.

Allow kegs at fraternities to promote the idea that students don't need to leave campus to have fun.

PROVIDE ADEQUATE SECURITY SERVICES TO SORORITIES AND FRATERNITIES. The level of protection afforded to them, particularly in light of the break-ins from last year, is inexcusable.

A W&J student was killed...beaten to death by a bunch of lunatics who should have been taken off the street a long time ago. I've lost all faith in humanity. I want everyone in the W&J administration fired (including the president)...NOW. She and others failed to protect an entire campus and someone lost his life in the process...heartless bastards.

I guess what I'm comparing it to is my experience at Penn State where you walk across the street and you're at a bar, 2-3 more blocks you're on frat row. The frats on campus have parties. But they are all regulated very heavily by the IFC due to what happened in 2009 with Joe Dado's death. However Joe was an underage freshman. It would seem this individual at W&J is over 21.